Graham the Great
by kickysteys
Summary: The story of an average Palpitoad, starting from humble beginnings, as he travels Unova. He longs for adventure and action, but can he really handle the world outside of his pond?


**\- Chapter One -**

**The Pond**

_"Bwahahahaha! Ya idjit hero types can't do anythin' to stop me!__" The great Darmanitan boasted loudly, slamming his fists on the ground. Powerful, swelling flames surrounded him in the cindered forest. A battered and beaten Simisage falls to his knees in despair and exhaustion_

_"I've done all I can. Who can save the forest now?" Simisage quietly mutters, collapsing onto the smoldering ground. The Darmanitan continues his destruction of the forest, spreading the flames further while chuckling to himself. But, out of the corner of his eye, he spots something rapidly approaching him from within the few untouched trees. Suddenly, a forceful spout of water shoots out from the trees and quickly extinguishes some of the flames_

_"What in tarnation? Who d'you think you are, putting out my fire?" Darmanitan bellows at the source of the water. A figure emerges from the trees_, _a bold and strong figure._

_"The name's Graham, and I'm here to put an end to your tirade, evildoer," the stunningly strong, handsome, and all-around charming Palpitoad proclaimed. Surely this was the hero that the forest needed_.

_"Hm, another hero type, huh? Well you'll be nothin' once I get through with ya!" Darmanitan shouted as he lunged his entire body toward the Palpitoad. He clenched his fist, drawing his arm back to prepare a Fire Punch attack. However, as he closed in, the mighty Palpitoad grabbed the Darmanitan's fiery fist with his tail and threw him straight into the air._

_"I don't think so, hotshot." The cool and calm Palpitoad then shot another powerful blast of water from his mouth at the plummeting fiend. The heavyset Darmanitan crashed into the ground. "Evil won't be tolerated. What do you have to say for yourself, villain?" Graham firmly asked, standing over the weakened destructor._

_Darmanitan looked up at the daring Palpitoad and opened his mouth to speak. "Big bubber..."_

_The Palpitoad looked suddenly very confused. "Huh?"_

_"Big bubber! Hey, hey, wake up!" __said a young girl's voice._

Graham slowly opened his eyes and awoke to the sound of his little sister's voice. "Big bubber, c'mon! Hey, are you even listening? Mama said we gotta go home." The little Tympole girl nudged him with her head. "C'mon." She began to swim through the somewhat grimy pond water, presumably in the direction of home. Graham sat up from the damp rock he had fallen asleep on, surrounded by the pond. He hoped he could continue his dream later. Dreams tended to be far more exciting and pleasing than reality. In his dreams, he was the legendary hero known as Graham, and adventure followed him wherever he went. But in reality, he was just an ordinary Palpitoad. Actually, maybe even less than an ordinary Palpitoad. After all, he was a bit on the chubby side, plus his tail was shorter than most.

Graham sighed to himself and got up onto his feet. His back ached a bit from snoozing on such a hard stone. He did a few quick stretches, dove into the water, and began to swim towards his home.

Graham had become weary of his usual surroundings lately. Ever since he was a young little Tympole, he had lived in the same pond, or at least in the same area full of ponds. It was a nice place for playing when he was younger, since there was plenty of mud and trees and swimming areas, but now he wanted a change of pace in his life. Every now and then, Graham would still play around, but that was only if his younger sister, Tammy, convinced him to.

Soon enough, Graham and Tammy arrived home. Home was just a pond like any other in the area, but Graham admittedly thought that it was more comforting than the other ponds. Not for any particular reason, it just felt more homely.

"Welcome back, huns!" their mother cheerfully said. "What did you both do while you were out?"

"I played with other Tympole, mama! We had a race and there were a bunch of laps and I was in the race and I won and, and, and..." Tammy excitedly said, trailing off near the end.

"Oh, that sounds great, dear! What about you, Tim?" Although he'd like to be called Graham, the Palpitoad's real name was Timothy. He'd always thought his name was lame, but only recently had he started going by Graham. He thought that Tim was no name for an adventurer; Graham, on the other hand, sounded to him like a name you'd hear about in legends. He told his parents to start calling him Graham, but they told him he couldn't just change his name so suddenly. He had also told his sister to start calling him Graham, but she never remembered to do so. Nobody else would really do so either unless it was in jest.

Before Graham could actually answer his mother, Tammy butted in. "Big bubber was napping! He fell asleep on a big rock and he was napping!"

Graham shook his head. He didn't want to waste an opportunity for a good story, even if it was just a little untrue. "Nuh uh! While Tammy was racing, I was busy defending the forest from a super powerful villain."

Just as Graham tells his totally accurate story, he feels a large hand pat the top of his head. "Attaboy, Tim," his father says as he slowly walks over to his mother. "What'll it be for supper, Pam?"

Graham's mother plants a kiss on the Seismitoad's cheek. "Welcome home, sweetheart. I found a big bunch of different berries this morning, so we can have those." He nods and slumps himself onto his usual rock in the pond.

Graham always thought he had a knack for storytelling, but the problem was that people hardly ever believed his stories were true. Of course they often weren't completely true stories, but Graham wanted to build up some sort of heroic reputation for himself. Instead, though, he lived a very average, uninteresting life. There were always other Pokemon in the area getting into fights or protecting others who were in danger. But in a dangerous world of experienced heroes, adventurers, and the like, Graham was just another civilian.

The rest of the day proceeded like any other -- eating berries and wading in the pond. One of these days, Graham thought to himself, he would finally do something with his life and see what else the world had to offer other than monotony. Until then, he slept a good night's sleep.

**Author's Note**

Ah, story. Here's some info about the story that I didn't think I could organically bring up in the story, or at least not yet:

\- The dream sequence was intentionally written to sound Mary Sue-ish.

\- The current setting is Route 8 of Unova.

\- For unnecessary clarification, Graham is a Palpitoad whose real name is Timothy/Tim. Tammy is his little sister who's a Tympole. Pam/Pamela is their mother, and she's also a Palpitoad. The father is named Samson, and he's a Seismitoad.

I plan on writing more for this (when I'm not being a lazy bum), but I know that this first chapter was probably mega boring due to it being exposition.

I'd appreciate any feedback/criticisms, positive or negative, so that I know how to improve. Thanks.


End file.
